Learn about using approximations in India
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Maya: Namaste, I'm Maya. Welcome back to HindiPod101.com. This is Lower Beginner, Season 1, Lesson 6 - I'll be Arriving in India in an Hour! |
| Udita: Namaste, मैं उदिता हूँ। (main uDiTaa huun). I'm Udita. In this lesson, you'll learn the usage of the word लगभग (Lagabhag). |
| Maya: The conversation takes place on board a train. |
| Udita: It's between Kate and Renu. |
| Maya: Since they are strangers, they will be using formal Hindi. |
| Udita: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| केट (ket): आगरा कितनी देर में आयेगा? (aagaraa kiTaNii Der men aayegaa?) |
| रेनू (reNuu): लगभग एक घंटे में। (Lagabhag ek ghante men.) |
| केट (ket): स्टेशन से ताज महल कितनी दूर है? (StesaN Se Taaj mahaL kiTaNii Duur hai?) |
| रेनू (reNuu): लगभग दस मिनट। (Lagabhag DaS miNat.) |
| Maya: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| केट (ket): आगरा कितनी देर में आयेगा? (aagaraa kiTaNii Der men aayegaa?) |
| रेनू (reNuu): लगभग एक घंटे में। (Lagabhag ek ghante men.) |
| केट (ket): स्टेशन से ताज महल कितनी दूर है? (StesaN Se Taaj mahaL kiTaNii Duur hai?) |
| रेनू (reNuu): लगभग दस मिनट। (Lagabhag DaS miNat.) |
| Maya: Now let's hear it with the English translation. |
| केट (ket): आगरा कितनी देर में आयेगा? (aagaraa kiTaNii Der men aayegaa?) |
| Kate: When will Agra come? |
| रेनू (reNuu): लगभग एक घंटे में। (Lagabhag ek ghante men.) |
| Renu: In about one hour. |
| केट (ket): स्टेशन से ताज महल कितनी दूर है? (StesaN Se Taaj mahaL kiTaNii Duur hai?) |
| Kate: How far is the Taj Mahal from the station? |
| रेनू (reNuu): लगभग दस मिनट। (Lagabhag DaS miNat.) |
| Renu: Around ten minutes. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Maya: Okay, let’s talk about long distance trains in India. |
| Udita: Sounds good! |
| Maya: Inside the train, you’ll find a lot of food and drink vendors moving forward and backward. |
| Udita: Right! The most common of them is the “chai-vaala” - tea vendor. He has a distinct anthem “chai, chai, coffee, chai” which he keeps chanting over and over again, almost makes you feel like having a cup every time. |
| Maya: Yes, you can even find them parading up and down the train at 2 in the morning. They carry giant steel kettles of this special sweet Indian chai. |
| Udita: And having this sweet Indian chai is a must for the complete experience. |
| Maya: The spicy-sweet aroma of Chai is irresistible. |
| Udita: You can also find a range of deep fried snacks, chips and soft drinks, with these vendors moving up and down the train in between stations. |
| Maya: However, I advise you to be little wary when it comes to food served there, as not all of it is safe and hygienic. It’s always good to pack some food of your choice like Indians do. |
| Udita: That’s a good tip. Okay, now on to the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Maya: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is... |
| Udita: कितनी (kiTaNii). |
| Maya: "how much." |
| Udita: कितनी (kiTaNii), कितनी (kiTaNii). |
| Maya: Next. |
| Udita: देर (Der). |
| Maya: "Late." |
| Udita: देर (Der), देर (Der). |
| Maya: Next. |
| Udita: आयेगा (aayegaa). |
| Maya: "Will come." |
| Udita: आयेगा (aayegaa), आयेगा (aayegaa). |
| Maya: Next. |
| Udita: लगभग (Lagabhag). |
| Maya: "About." |
| Udita: लगभग (Lagabhag), लगभग (Lagabhag). |
| Maya: Next. |
| Udita: घंटे (ghante). |
| Maya: "Hour." |
| Udita: घंटे (ghante), घंटे (ghante). |
| Maya: Next. |
| Udita: स्टेशन (StesaN). |
| Maya: "Station." |
| Udita: स्टेशन (StesaN), स्टेशन (StesaN). |
| Maya: Next. |
| Udita: दूर (Duur). |
| Maya: "Far." |
| Udita: दूर (Duur), दूर (Duur). |
| Maya: Next. |
| Udita: दस (DaS). |
| Maya: "Ten." |
| Udita: दस (DaS), दस (DaS). |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Maya: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Udita: First we have देर (Der) meaning “late” in English and कितनी (kiTaNii) comes from the question word कितना (kiTaNaa) meaning “how much.” |
| Maya: So it becomes “how much late” which implies “how much time.” |
| Udita: Next is आयेगा (aayegaa), which comes from the verb आना (aaNaa) which means “to come.” |
| Maya: So आयेगा (aayegaa) means “will come,” which refers to the future. To explain an action that will take place in the future, we add a suffix to the root of the verb. |
| Udita: For first person, we simply add ऊंगा/ ऊंगी/ एंगे (uungaa/ uungi/ enge) to the root of the verb depending on the gender and number of the noun. |
| Maya: For second person add एगा/ एगी/ एंगे (egaa/ egii/ enge) to the root of the verb depending on the |
| gender and number of the noun. |
| Udita: But don't worry too much about it now. We have a separate lesson on this. What’s next? |
| Maya: स्टेशन (StesaN), which means “station” in English. In Hindi too, there are quite a few words that are directly taken from English words. Some of those borrowed words might sound exactly the same, but there are some that are pronounced a bit differently in Hindi. |
| Udita: We have explained in our previous lessons some of these common and useful words taken from English, and vice versa. |
| Maya: Okay, now onto the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Maya: In this lesson you’re going to learn how to express approximations in Hindi. |
| Udita: Approximation is expressed by placing लगभग (Lagabhag) before the numeral. |
| Maya: It can also be expressed by certain pairs of numerals. Like एक-दो (ek-Do) “one or two,” दो-तीन (Do-TiiN) “about two or three,” सौ-सवा सौ (Sau-Savaa Sau) “about 100 to 125.” |
| Maya: कोई (koii) is also a useful word that is sometimes used to express approximation. |
| Udita: Placing कोई (koii) before a numeral would mean “some” in English. For example, कोई तीन दिन। (koii TiiN DiN) meaning “some three days.” |
| Maya: Similarly, कोई चार लड़कियाँ (koii caar Ladakiyaan) meaning “some four girls.” |
| Udita: Let’s practice using लगभग (Lagabhag) with some examples. |
| Maya: “About four days” in Hindi would be? |
| Udita: “Four days” in Hindi is चार दिन (caar DiN). We simply place लगभग (Lagabhag) before चार दिन (caar DiN). So it becomes, लगभग चार दिन (Lagabhag caar DiN). |
| Maya: “About fifty kilometers.” |
| Udita: “Fifty kilometers” in Hindi is पचास किलोमीटर (pacaaS kiLomiitar). Simply put लगभग (Lagabhag) before it. So it becomes, लगभग पचास किलोमीटर (Lagabhag pacaaS kiLomiitar). |
| Maya: Similarly, “about two hours” in Hindi would be? |
| Udita: लगभग दो घंटे (Lagabhag Do ghante). |
| Maya: Ok listeners, it’s time for a quiz. What would you say for “about 100 people.” |
| Udita: लगभग सौ लोग (Lagabhag Sau Log). |
| Maya: What would you say for “about ten boxes.” |
| Udita: लगभग दस डब्बे (Lagabhag DaS dabbe). |
| Maya: What would be the Hindi for “about eight men?” |
| Udita: लगभग आठ आदमी (Lagabhag aath aaDamii). |
| Maya: It’s a very useful word, and can simply be placed before a numeral when you are unsure of the exact number. Let's see how this grammar point was used in the dialogue. |
| Udita: First, Kate asks in what time will they reach Agra. Renu says लगभग एक घंटे में। (Lagabhag ek ghante men.) which means "In about one hour.” |
| Maya: Then Kate asks in what time will they reach Taj Mahal, to which Renu says लगभग दस मिनट। (Lagabhag DaS miNat.), which means “In about 10 minutes”. |
Outro |
|---|
| Udita: Well, that's all we have for our lesson. Listeners, how would you say “My house is about five kilometers from here.” in Hindi? Tell us in a comment at HindiPod101.com. |
| Maya: And please don't forget to look at the lesson notes for more examples and explanations on this topic. |
| Udita: शुक्रिया और फिर मिलेंगे! (sukriyaa aur phir miLenge!) |
| Maya: Thank you for listening. Until next time! |
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